1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to an adjustable basketball goal with a parallelogram structure and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an adjustable goal having a lift cable for raising and lowering the goal and safety means for gradually lowering the hoop and backboard should the cable break.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art.
Heretofore, there have been various types of basketball goals using a parallelogram arrangement for adjusting the height of a basketball goal. They are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,040 to White, U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,277 to Dittrich, U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,101 to Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 344,652 to Hammerstein, U.S. Pat. No. 278,797 to Ide, U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,450 to Mason, U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,886 to Sinner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,505 to Friend.
Also basketball goals can be raised and lowered using winch, cable and pulley systems such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,025 to Procter, U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,003 to Drew, Netherlands patent No. 6,413,102 to Nijha and Belgium patent No. 681,631 to De Clerck. Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,498 issued to Clore et al. an independent lock for a safety belt is described. The belt holds a raised basketball goal in place should the cable used in raising the goal break.
None of these prior art patents describe the particularly unique features and advantages of the subject basketball goal.